The workforce is changing and it’s having a big impact on warehousing and distribution. With a shrinking blue-collar workforce, employers have to work harder and smarter to attract employees, especially those in the younger age bracket.
That’s according to research from the International Foodservice Distributors Association (IFDA) presented during the 2024 annual conference of the Warehousing Education and Research Council (WERC), being held this week in Dallas.
Annika Stensson, IFDA’s senior director of research and innovation, presented results of studies detailing what younger warehouse industry workers—those 18 to 34 years old without a college degree—are looking for in a career. They combined data from online surveys of more than 1,000 young workers with surveys of foodservice distribution supervisors and leaders, as well as one-on-one interviews with foodservice industry executives, to get a picture of the shifting warehouse employment landscape.
Among the results, the survey found that, for younger workers, job security and pay are the two “most important” features in a job, respectively. That differed from what employers perceived as the most important aspects for young workers: they listed schedule flexibility first and pay second. The groups also differ on the most important attributes of a job: Young workers listed “enjoying tasks/responsibilities” and their “work environment/conditions” as top attributes compared with “work/life balance” and “company culture” as top perceived attributes among employers and managers.
Stensson said the studies can help employers understand what’s driving younger workers and develop better plans for recruiting and retaining both millennials and Generation Z. More information is available via IFDA.
WERC 2024 runs through this Wednesday, June 5, at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas.
